Selling My Prints
Question:
I'm looking for a Gallery with a sales function that will take care of the orders, collection, printing, and shipping to get started selling my images. There just does not seem to be a photo site that has "everything" for a reasonable price/commission.
Answer:
The short answer: You may have to take matters in your own hands.
I don't know of a site that will provide everything from genuine sales opportunities to printing and drop shipping. It is an interesting idea, but I don't know if it is entirely practical from a business standpoint. First, you are asking the business owner to specialize in a lot of things, spanning web commerce, understanding of the market for arts, and knowledge of printing. Second, there is an awful lot of risk in taking on that challenge. Risk comes with a price, and that is why as you get closer to your ideal the services cost more.
A photo gallery site might have a technical web expertise and that might not correspond to having much knowledge of print at all. The site would expose themselves a risk to offer print services for redistribution, unless they were already a service or partnered with one. If you submit files that are not correct and haven't been tested and the service prints them, you will blame the service...and the service will either have to wrangle with disputes, or publish an almost irrational disclaimer. It may be a risk no portfolio-type site is currently willing to take for minimal profits that they'd make on the prints if they job them out, or the investment they'd need to make in printing equipment to provide the necessary services.
On the other hand, if you post your images for sale on a commission-free site ( see http://thefineartoriginals.com for example ), you'd be able to post your images for sale, collect your fees through any service like paypal ( http://www.paypal.com ), and choose any printing service you like to fulfil the job ( I use http://www.color-tech.com which will drop ship ). I send in images via FTP and have tested the prints on their equipment so there is no question that those making a purchase will be satisfied.
My suggestion may be one or two more steps than you'd prefer to take on your own, but you can get started for almost nothing, and you will have better control and understanding of the process -- and ultimately YOU reap more rewards from your sales. As distasteful as it is, artists may have to assume some responsibility for sales and marketing, or pay the premium for those services.
I'm looking for a Gallery with a sales function that will take care of the orders, collection, printing, and shipping to get started selling my images. There just does not seem to be a photo site that has "everything" for a reasonable price/commission.
Answer:
The short answer: You may have to take matters in your own hands.
I don't know of a site that will provide everything from genuine sales opportunities to printing and drop shipping. It is an interesting idea, but I don't know if it is entirely practical from a business standpoint. First, you are asking the business owner to specialize in a lot of things, spanning web commerce, understanding of the market for arts, and knowledge of printing. Second, there is an awful lot of risk in taking on that challenge. Risk comes with a price, and that is why as you get closer to your ideal the services cost more.
A photo gallery site might have a technical web expertise and that might not correspond to having much knowledge of print at all. The site would expose themselves a risk to offer print services for redistribution, unless they were already a service or partnered with one. If you submit files that are not correct and haven't been tested and the service prints them, you will blame the service...and the service will either have to wrangle with disputes, or publish an almost irrational disclaimer. It may be a risk no portfolio-type site is currently willing to take for minimal profits that they'd make on the prints if they job them out, or the investment they'd need to make in printing equipment to provide the necessary services.
On the other hand, if you post your images for sale on a commission-free site ( see http://thefineartoriginals.com for example ), you'd be able to post your images for sale, collect your fees through any service like paypal ( http://www.paypal.com ), and choose any printing service you like to fulfil the job ( I use http://www.color-tech.com which will drop ship ). I send in images via FTP and have tested the prints on their equipment so there is no question that those making a purchase will be satisfied.
My suggestion may be one or two more steps than you'd prefer to take on your own, but you can get started for almost nothing, and you will have better control and understanding of the process -- and ultimately YOU reap more rewards from your sales. As distasteful as it is, artists may have to assume some responsibility for sales and marketing, or pay the premium for those services.
Labels: Elements, online galleries, Photoshop, printing, services
posted by Richard Lynch at 6:50 PM
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